Two fires are still burning, on Dinara and near Gračac. Pelješac and Omiš are under control with crews still working the ground. Here is the state of play from the fire service, and what it changes for a trip this week.
Checked: 20 August 2026
The Croatian fire service reports four fire sites for 20 August. Two are still burning, two are under control with crews working the ground. None of them closes a coastal town, but two of them change what a day outdoors looks like, and one of them sits in an area walkers use.
Still active
On Dinara, in the Šibenik-Knin county, the fire has been burning since 14 August after crossing over from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Twenty-three firefighters with twelve vehicles are on it, supported by twenty-six soldiers and four aircraft. Dinara is mountain country rather than a resort, but it carries the trail to the highest peak in Croatia, and that is reason enough to check before setting out. Near Otrić by Gračac, in the Zadar county, a fire started on 19 August and has covered twelve hectares, with twenty firefighters and eight vehicles on site.
Under control: Pelješac and Omiš
The fire on the Pelješac peninsula, in the Dubrovnik-Neretva county, started on 14 August and took about 500 hectares of pine forest. It is under control, and the ground is still being worked. At its height it drew 250 firefighters with 73 vehicles and five aircraft, with crews sent in from several counties. The larger one, above Omiš and Lokva Rogoznica in Split-Dalmatia, started on 13 August and covered roughly 1,000 hectares. It is the one that carried the human cost of this fortnight: one person died, 43 were injured, and around 2,500 people were evacuated to reception centres. It drew 253 firefighters with 83 vehicles and eight aircraft.
What this means for a trip this week
The coast is open and the ferries run. What changes is the air and the ground: near a fire site the smell of smoke carries for days after the flames are out, and burnt slopes are closed while crews work them. On Pelješac that affects the pine woods above the road rather than the villages or the beaches. Above Omiš the burnt area sits between the coast and the Cetina canyon, so a walk that used to go up the slope may be off. On the same day the weather service has yellow warnings out for thunderstorms around Rijeka, Zagreb and Gospić and for wind in northern Dalmatia, the Velebit channel and Kvarner. Fire rules on the coast are strict all summer and stricter now: no open flame outdoors, no cigarette from a car window, no barbecue outside a marked place. The fine reaches into thousands of euros, and this fortnight has shown what is behind the rule.
Frequently asked questions
- Is it safe to travel to Pelješac or Omiš right now?
- Yes. Both fires are under control, the towns and beaches are open and the roads and ferries run normally. What you will notice is the smell of smoke near the burnt slopes and closures where crews are still working the ground. Check the fire service before planning a walk into the hills above either place.
- Where do I find the current fire situation?
- The Croatian fire service publishes a daily report of significant interventions at hvz.gov.hr, and the weather warnings sit at meteoalarm.org for the Croatian regions. In an emergency the number is 193 for the fire service and 112 for everything else, and both work from any phone without a local SIM.
- Why are the fire rules so strict?
- Because a pine slope in August carries fire faster than anyone can walk. This fortnight alone took roughly 1,500 hectares across four sites, cost one life, injured 43 people and put 2,500 out of their homes for a night. Open flame outdoors is banned along the coast in summer, and that includes a cigarette out of a car window and a barbecue outside a marked place.
Make Croatia Atlas a preferred source
One click and Google shows you our stories more often in Top Stories and in AI answers. It changes your own results only.
